McDonnell's amendment to House Bill 1900 had passed the House 55-37 with seven delegates not voting earlier Wednesday. It eked through the Senate after opponents in both parties argued it abridges not only the right of women to buy their own policies, but what businesses can and can't sell.

McDonnell pulled the amendment from a law passed in 2011 that would have governed state-run health exchanges - forums where low-income people who don't qualify for Medicaid could buy low-cost policies.

But McDonnell rejected a state-run exchange, leaving the federal government to fund and run the program in Virginia.